Are you finding that your Facebook Author Page generates less response than before?

One of the most annoying things about social media is how it keeps changing its rules, what we might be using today, might suddenly disappear and there is a pop up saying your Facebook page has been updated for example. When Facebook started its Pages, one could post something knowing that all your fans received your post.

Now that Facebook is publicly listed and has to make more money, things have changed. You can only reach that many people on your Fan Page, if you pay and they call it sponsored posts. This has tremendously brought down the number of your followers seeing your posts to around 10-15%. This has also left us pondering as to who is in the stream and who is left out and it definitely isn’t a great idea to schedule 20 posts a day and annoy your followers by just creeping into their news feed every now and then. This means it’s making it really hard for the self-published authors to use Facebook as a concrete platform to market their books

I am not trying to pull down your spirits, all those who believe mostly on Facebook for your book promotions, here is something thats going to make you feel better. Though it is a bit of a drag, but once you’ve got it set up, it works like a dream. It’s called Facebook Interest Lists. The basic concept of the Interest List is similar to creating lists in Twitter, or Circles in Google+.

Interest Lists are a Facebook feature that allows you to sort similar people and brands into separate feeds and easily digest the latest about your favourite topics. It also allows you to put your favourite Pages in a place where you can make sure you will be able to access all the updates.

There are two ways that Self- published authors can use this Facebook feature

One for themselves; to create lists that will be of interest to others. When you have created a list like this, people will want to subscribe to it.

And the second, to persuade those who follow your Page to make a list and put your page on that list in order to ensure that they see every one of your posts.

It looks like getting yourself onto people’s Interest Lists is a great strategy for your Facebook Page and even better to influence all the people who Like you to put you on their list. So what are you waiting for build your interest list ASAP and for those who are not familiar with the interest lists and how to create them, here is a small guide which could help you.

Setting up your own Interest Lists:

Go to your Home page on your FB Profile. In the left-side bar, under Interests click Add Interests.

You then have two options: subscribe to any of the pre-populated Interest Lists, or create your own by clicking Create List at the top. You can also hover over the Like on a Page.

If you choose to create your own list, a window will open, at which point you can add friends, brands, or public figures to your list even if you don’t currently subscribe to them.

Once you’ve created or subscribed to a number of Interest Lists, they’l appear to the left of the News Feed. When you click one, only the posts from the people on that list will appear.

If you would like quicker access to a list, add it to your Favourites by hovering over the name, clicking the pencil, and selecting Add to favourites. Clicking the pencil also gives you the option to remove the list entirely.

Interest Lists also provide you with a means of promoting yourself and driving traffic to your own Facebook page or profile.

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Aravind S

Aravind, works as a publishing mentor at Notion Press. His articles help aspiring writers realize their dream of becoming a published author. He has several years of experience in the publishing industry and has researched on digital media and the future of print-publishing. He is an active mentor for a community of writers to educate and guide them toward writing a book that sells.